Last week, mayoral candidates Royce Pollard and Tim Leavitt had a political slapfest in Esther Short park in downtown Vancouver ("America's Vancouver!" proclaims Pollard proudly). Turns out it was a fitting place for a strident discussion about rights and politics—according to the "Proud Past" section of Clark County's website, Esther Short herself saved her family and her homestead by, yes, slapping a French Canadian.

As the website explains in gripping detail, Hudson's Bay Company owned the area Short's family tried to settle and it wanted the Americans out!

The British tried every means possible to evict Amos and Esther, including destroying their fences.

One time when Amos was away, they even loaded Esther and her children in a boat and cast them adrift on the Columbia. Somehow she managed to get the children safely back home, but after that Amos kept a gun handy. He ordered his enemies to keep off his land, but they disregarded his warnings and a shooting followed. Two men were killed.

While Amos was away defending himself against murder charges (the court later found he acted in self-defense), another band of Hudson's Bay men under the leadership of an adventurous French-Canadian, Francis Facette, was sent down to destroy the fences once again. Fed up, Esther hit Facette with the open palm of her hand and knocked him to the ground. The Hudson's Bay Company gave up in the face of her determination and Esther Short was here to stay.

No one drowned or kidnapped anyone or even actually slapped anyone with an open palm during last week's mayoral debate, but it was still exciting so you should read about it here.